1. Technical Field
The technical field relates to a lens barrel having a bending optical system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital cameras that make use of imaging elements have become very popular in recent years. With digital cameras, there has been a need not only for a greater number of pixels in the imaging elements, but also for higher performance of the lens barrel which forms an optical image on the imaging elements. More specifically, there is a need for a lens barrel equipped with a higher-power zoom lens system.
In the field of digital cameras, the overall size of the camera needs to be reduced in order to make it more portable. Accordingly, there has been a need for a more compact imaging device including a lens barrel and imaging elements, as this is considered one way to reduce the overall size of the camera. For instance, as disclosed in Japanese Patent 3,925,457 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 2007-17957, 2007-271649, and 2005-351932, there have been proposals for so-called bending optical systems, in which the optical path is bent along a zoom lens system, in order to reduce the size of the imaging device.